


Promises

by moonkittie



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/M, Multi, Romance, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-02-12 01:51:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 11,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2091387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonkittie/pseuds/moonkittie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danielle thought her fate was sealed when a man made an attempt on her life, but the universe had other plans for her. Rescued by Captain America himself, science not only saves her life, but gives her a new one. She is thrown into the life of SHIELD and The Avengers, and must discover what the full extent of her new powers are. Rating might increase in later chapters.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

There was something about the nighttime air in summer that made Danielle want to run. During the cold months, she'd hole herself up in the gym, taking to the toning machines or swimming laps in the indoor pool. But the city lights and sweet and sour smell of New York made her want to run and run. Run like she was being chased.

Every evening, after she'd eaten and finished up any loose ended articles online for publication the next morning, she'd take to the streets. She changed where she ran every few days, but found herself in Central Park at least once a week. At her side she kept pepper spray, and wasn't naive enough to run without knowing she had a pretty good left hook.

But that was all for nothing when someone took her down with a taser. It was late, nearly 11, and she'd only come across a couple of other people.

Fear was an understatement. When she felt every muscle in her body seize up, the realization dawned on her that she was about to die.

She couldn't see the face of her attacker, the shadow from the trees above hid it in his hood. He pulled her stiff body into some nearby bushes, and began to quickly remove supplies from his bulky pockets. She needed to scream, that's what she needed to do. But she couldn't. She could not will her numb muscles to do anything.

She realized he was removing tape from his pocket. It was now or never.

She let out a scream worthy of the cheesiest horror movies. And when she did, she saw the glint of light against something metal. He plunged the knife into her stomach again and again, and suddenly her entire world was just blackness and pain. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't think, she could only feel. She was silenced with the stabbing, and again the only thing she could think of was her impending death, and how she wish she could still be running.

The stabbing stopped. The pain remained. She felt her shorts being tugged away, and knew this would be the last thing she would remember. Her breath came out in shallow gasps. She whispered for her mother, tears slid down her cheeks.

There was an odd noise. The grunting and then a sudden shout came from her attacker. She watched in the darkness as his figure flew away from her, like he'd been thrown. Someone else was there. Not that it mattered. She was bleeding out, each feeble beat of her heart took her further away from her life.

She watched the immense man snap the attackers neck, and then let him drop to the dirt. He was frozen, looking at his own hands in astonishment. The next moment, he was crouching over her. He rested her hand on her stomach, and she moaned in pain. He pulled his hand away, looking down at the blood that poured out of her.

He wouldn't let her die.

"You're going to be okay." she heard a deep voice say, authority behind it. "I promise." He picked her up, and he began to run.

And she was running again.

* * *

Steve carried her, running as fast as his legs would allow, not to a hospital, but instead to the shining Stark tower. He made the 30 block distance in under two minutes. He knew if anyone on this planet could save this woman's life by any means possible, it would be Dr. Bruce Banner.

"Help." he said as the double doors on Bruce's office slid open. Bruce had been sitting at his desk, pushing through the holographic charts before him. He saw Steve through the blue translucent screen, and stood quickly. He wasn't used to seeing his friend look so horribly desperate.

"Put her on the table, there." He said, pointing to an empty white countertop he used for dissections. Steve set her down with more gentleness than a mother handling an infant. Her eyes were open, but he didn't know if she could see.

Banner pushed his sleeves back, and put his glasses on his nose. He put his hands underneath a silver faucet, and when the motion activated faucet sensed his hands there, the instantly sanitizing mixture of water and a combination of H2o2 and C3H8O.

He picked up a silver rod and ran it over the length of her body, and the specs appeared in mid air somewhere near her feet. He shook his head slightly as he scanned the information.

"She's lost too much blood Steve." he said quietly. "I can't use any sort of experimental serum on her without her consent, you know that."

Steve locked his jaw.

"If it means saving her life, then do it." Steve said.

"We don't know the full scope of side effects. Yeah, she could end up like you." he said, and frowned. "Or she could end up like me."

"She'll end up  _alive._ "

Despite the moral turmoil he felt, Bruce knew that he was right. There wasn't any other option. No hours of intensive surgery could heal the severity of her wounds.

He crossed the lab, using his elbow to power on the facial recognition software. The refrigerated drawer slid out, and he took out a vial with a pair of silver tongs. He unwrapped a sterile syringe.

"I can't believe I'm doing this." he muttered to himself.

He filled the syringe up with the dark blue liquid.

"I need you to tie her arm off." he explained as he walked back to the woman. "There's some-"

Steve had already taken off his own belt and was securing it around her arm.

"Okay, that works." Banner said. He quickly found a vein, and could feel how weak her pulse was. He took a deep breath, looking up at Steve.

"We might have to fight if this goes poorly."

Steve nodded, understanding.

He pushed the needle under her skin.

"Untie it." he said after a moment. Steve loosened the belt, and the serum made it's way into her blood stream. The moment it hit her heart, she gasped, her eyes widening. Banner swore, and in one swift movement, took the end of Steve's belt and put it between her teeth, so she wouldn't bite off her tongue.

Danielle had never felt anything so both searing hot and also wonderful. It was as if someone had poured liquid sunshine into her veins. She could feel everything, every heart beat, growing stronger as the serum curled around her veins. Her stomach was regenerating. She could feel skin growing back, veins and arteries making new connections. She was gasping for air, and could taste the dust and chemical particles with each breath.

Steve and Bruce watched her, taking a step back as her back arched. And she fell back flat on the table like that. The searing stopped. She was healed. She was new.

She'd been reborn.

 


	2. Chapter 2

She sat up quickly, turning to look at the two men. The first, tall, broad, and ridiculously handsome, was covered in her blood. The second was short and older, with curled hair.

"Did I die?" she asked them calmly.

It took Bruce a second to answer. "Not all the way, no."

"Am I going to?" she asked.

"I think you're alright now. What's your name?" Bruce said. He sounded calmer than Steve felt.

"Danielle Shaprosa." she said quietly. "The man, who attacked me, you killed him." she said, looking at Steve. "Thank you."

"How do you feel?" Bruce stepped closer, bringing the silver rod towards her again. All her vitals had returned to normal.

"I don't feel like myself." she said. She stood, stretching, looking around the lab. She picked a leaf out of her dark brown hair, crumbling it in her hand. "I think it'll come back, though. What time is it?"

"Almost midnight." Steve answered. "Do you feel anything?"

"I feel healthy."

"Maybe she can't do anything. Maybe she was injured enough to where the serum could only heal, not improve as it was designed to." Bruce said. "My name is Bruce Banner, and this is Steve."

She smiled, and Bruce continued.

"Now, we gave you medicine, but it's a special kind of medicine that hasn't been tested on humans before. It's based off medicine that both he and myself received. His worked a little better than mine. But essentially, we don't know what it's going to do you."

She looked slightly confused. "Who are you?" she finally asked.

"We're part of the Avengers." Steve said, and her eyes lit with understanding.

"You're Captain America." she said quietly. " _You_ saved me?"

"Yes." he said.

"Can I see your stomach?" Bruce asked. She lifted up her shirt slightly. Where the new skin had grown back, it was red and a much lighter hue than the rest of her tanned skin. It was mottled, like a birth mark, and stretched all the way underneath her sports bra. He bent down, inspecting it.

"Amazing." he whispered.

"You both work for S.H.I.E.L.D?" she asked, and they both nodded. Steve couldn't take his eyes off her face. She was beautiful, in a way that made his stomach clench and his knees shake. He found himself nodding again. "And you...are...a doctor?" she said, unsure.

"Also the big green guy." he said.

"Oh my god." her eyes widened, and looked down at herself, as though she only just realized. "You saved me with some sort of scientific superhuman juice?"

"We just don't know what it does yet." he sighed. "You seem perfectly normal, save for the extreme healing."

She didn't know what to do. She leaned against the edge of the table.

"I'm starving." she finally said.

It seemed the best thing she could of said, because both of them looked extremely relieved.

"We can take you to SHIELD for more tests in the morning." Bruce sighed. "Go grab some pizza, there's a place a couple of blocks from here."

"Is there anything else I can wear?" she asked, looking down at her holey and blood stained clothes.

"There's some stuff in the apartment. Second door on your left down the hallway, take whatever you need." Bruce said.

She walked out of the lab and around the corner, opening the door to the simple apartment. She found the closet, and settled on a plain black t-shirt and a pair of sweats. Bruce was a small set man, but the clothes were still slightly big. She thought of Steve and his bloody shirt, and found a white undershirt that looked enormous for Bruce, and a flannel.

She returned to the lab.

"Pizza?" she asked, grinning at Steve, holding out the clothes.

When he was changed, he led her out of the building and into the elevator. There were a few drops of blood on the flat white carpet. He sighed.

"Tony's gunna kill me." he muttered.

"Tony  _Stark?_ Is that where we are?" she looked around, her eyes wide. "Holy shit." she said, and then slapped her hand over her mouth. Steve laughed, and she realized it was the first time she'd seen him smile.

She leaned against the elevator wall as it glided down the stories silently, looking up at Steve.

"Did you hear me, in the park?"

"I was out jogging." he said. "I should have gotten there sooner."

"You saved my life." she said, looking him directly in the eyes. Those bright baby blues.  _Jesus_ she thought to herself. "I don't know what I can do to thank you, but I'm sure I'll think of something." she laughed. "God, I can't even buy you pizza, I don't carry cash on me when I go running."

"Not a problem, ma'am. I would have refused anyways." he said as the doors slid open.

* * *

"Don't be mad." Bruce said to Tony as soon as Tony answered his video call. Stark sighed, rubbing his face, returning to the open suit in front of him as the small camera floated around him, filming him as he tinkered.

"I say the same thing to you all the time, Banner. What's up?"

"Steve brought a girl here."

"Well, I mean, the guy obviously needs to get a little tail. So uptight all the time." Tony said with a wince.

"No, she was dying."

Tony frowned. "That's not as fun."

"I used one of the serums." Bruce said quietly.

Tony looked up, his mouth open.

"Is she currently a huge raging green woman smashing up the downstairs?" he asked.

"No."

"Has she grown 10 inches and gained any muscle mass or devilishly good looks?"

"No, she just healed. They're going to get pizza."

"Wow." Tony said. "Well, congratulations, you've just discovered a life saving serum. Is that why you're calling me, to write a speech for your Nobel?"

"Tony-"

"I'm joking. I'll be down in a sec."

* * *

When Steve and Danielle returned from the pizza run, Tony and Bruce were pouring over the readings Bruce had gotten before.

"Oh good, you're back, can I borrow some blood from your little girlfriend's arm?" Tony asked, holding another sterile needle up as he walked towards them.

"Stark." Steve said firmly. "I think we've put her through enough."

"No it's fine." she shrugged, smiling up at Steve. "Can I sit, getting my blood drawn makes me woozy." she said, hopping up on the table she'd been laying on before.

He unwrapped the crinkly plastic, and tied off her arm with a proper piece of plastic.

As soon as he inserted the needle, she began to scream. She shoved Tony away, and he flew into one of the cupboards. The needle fell to the floor.

She hissed, holding her arm.

"My body was trying to heal itself around the needle." she explained after a second. "It just really hurt. I'm sorry, are you alright?" she stood, trying to help Tony up.

"Never been adverse to a woman pushing me around." he said as he dusted himself off. "Okay, we need a bigger wound."

"No." Steve said. She sighed.

"If this doesn't work, I'm done until I get some sleep." she said. "Can I have a container and a scalpel?"

Tony found the things, and handed them over. She set the container down.

"Do you want me to?" Bruce asked.

"No, I don't want to hurt anyone." she said. The three men winced as she sliced her wrist open, squeaking from the pain as she did. Blood poured out for half a moment, before the wound sealed itself.

"Is that enough?" she asked, gasping for air. "Can I go home now?"

"Yes, that's more than enough." Bruce smiled. "You did great. Now, Danielle, I know you didn't choose this. But if you wouldn't mind coming to SHIELD tomorrow, so the lab there can run some tests. They're experts in this sort of thing. We can send a car."

"I don't mind." she said. "I owe you that much."

 


	3. Chapter 3

Steve walked Danielle up to her apartment. Her roommate, Cassidy, was still awake.

"Oh my god, Dani, why didn't you call me? Your phone is off." Cassidy screamed as Danielle opened the front door. Cassidy's eyes widened as she caught sight of Steve. She crossed her arms over her braless chest, and cleared her throat. "Sorry." she said.

"My roommate Cassidy, Steve. I'm sorry I didn't call, a lot of stuff happened." she said to Cassidy.

"Hello, ma'am." he said to Cassidy, who's eyebrows disappeared into her bangs at his smooth politeness.

"Thanks again." Danielle said softly to Steve, who nodded, and finally left her. She shut the door.

"Those aren't your clothes." Cassidy said. "Did you and him f-u-c-k? Tinder? That shit's a miracle worker for some people, I guess."

Danielle rolled her eyes. "No, we didn't. Someone attacked me while I was out jogging. He fought them off and took me somewhere to get cleaned up, is all."

"Oh my god, are you serious? Are you for  _serious_? You got SVU'ed? Are you okay?" she spoke a million miles an hour.

Danielle shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm going to take a shower and go to bed."

"Are you sure? Do you need anything? A cup of tea?"

"Thanks, Cass." she gave her roommate a side hug. "I'm alright."

In the bathroom, she let the room fog up with steam before stepping into the sweet warm water. She rinsed the dirt out of her hair, relishing the relaxed feeling she felt coming over her. She thought again of the attack, but every little bit of anxiety and fear it brought into consciousness, it was as though her brain was self-preserving, and muted the thoughts anytime one popped up.

She fell asleep quickly, but awoke after only 5 hours. Of course, sleep was intended for healing, and since she did it so quickly, she assumed she didn't need as much. The apartment was quiet, and dawn was breaking outside. She opened her laptop, checking for any emails from her editor.

After thinking a moment, she dug a phone number out of the sweats pocket from the night before, and turned on her phone. She'd left it at home that previous night, just like her cash.

He answered on the second ring.

"Did I wake you?" she asked.

"No, I've been up an hour." Steve replied. She smiled.

"Don't need much sleep, huh?" she said. "Me neither."

"It's hard to get used to. Are you alright?"

"I'd love some coffee, actually. Can I meet you somewhere?"

She could hear his smile through the phone.

"Sounds great."

* * *

She dressed in a black tank top, a peach hoodie, and a pair of light blue jeans. Her usual get up was pretty reserved.

She looked in the mirror, reaching for her foundation, but noticed no blemishes. There were no bags under her eyes. In fact, she seemed to look better than she had when she was 16. She swiped on some mascara, grabbed her keys and purse, and made her way to Joebella, a few blocks uptown.

He leaned against the side of the building, and watched her cross the street towards him. Her hair and skin shone luminously. She was beautiful in the early morning light. Hey eyes were round, bright, and a deep brown, like melted chocolate. She had a small, heart shaped face, and dimples set into her cheeks. Her noise was slightly pointed, and her lips were plump and seemingly top heavy, which made them look only fuller.

"Hi," she said softly. "How are you?"

"Good." he nodded at the place. "Can I buy you a drink?"

She giggled. He opened the door for her and followed her inside.

"Okay..." he said after looking at the menu for a few moments in confusion. "what is a Caffè...Marocchino? What is any of this?"

"Just stick with a house brew and I think you'll make it out alive, Captain." she said with a sly grin. She ordered for the two of them before he had a chance to.

She handed him a paper cup filled with coffee, and watched him try to navigate how much cream and sugar to put in it. She picked up her own Breve, and leaned against the counter, watching him fumble.

"What's Splenda?" he asked in utter desperation, holding up a small yellow packet. She laughed, and bumped him out of the way. She added two raw sugars and about 3 oz of cream, before stirring it quickly and sprinkling in some cinnamon. She secured his lid back on and handed it to him. He took a wary sip, and grinned.

"Perfect." he said. "How'd you do that?"

"I worked at Starbucks in college."

"Is that the one with the mermaid?" he asked, his eyebrows knotted together.

"You got it." she said. "Want to walk through the park?"

"Are you sure you're alright after yesterday?"

"I'm 100 percent fine." she grinned, looping her arm through his, trying to not focus on the rock hard muscles underneath his jacket.

There were more people early this morning, and they wound their way through the familiar trees, watching the sun rise over the buildings.

They crossed a bridge, and Danielle caught sight of where she'd been attacked. A police line surrounded the bushes, and she saw a body bag being hoisted into the back of a van.

Steve froze, his eyes on the scene. She turned him away gently, taking another pathway away from the cops.

"Don't kill too many people, even being a superhero and all?" she asked after a moment.

"No. But there's exceptions. He was about to-" he cleared his throat, turning to look at her. "You're fine." he said, reassuring himself.

"I'm fine." she repeated, and then smiled. "Do I get to meet The Black Widow?"

"Natasha? Probably, I don't know."

"Ugh! She is so cool. At least you have one woman on the Avengers."

"Hey now. If there's another world ending alien invasion anytime soon, I'm sure there's room for more." he said with a grin. "She's a little intense, though."

"I bet." she said, and then was quiet. "What are they going to do to me, though? Like what sort of...tests."

"They won't hurt you." he said. "They did all the same stuff they'll do to you back when I first got my juice. They'll test stuff like endurance, matter manipulation. Probably want to see what, if anything, you can do."

She frowned. "With my luck, I'll have the most boring super power ever. Like...making people itchy."

He laughed, and she pinkened.

"With how you threw Stark last night, you might have some super strength in there somewhere."

"What happened to you?" she asked. "Did you change physically or have you always been this ho-" she stopped herself, and grinned up at him. "Tall."

"No, I gained about 70 pounds in muscle, and got about 7 inches taller, I think?" He said. "Hurt like hell. You know when you're little, and you get growing pains?" he asked, and she nodded. "It was like that, only all at once and 100 times more painful."

"And it's true...about the ice?"

"Yeah." he said.

"How old are you?"

"Technically or physically?" he sighed.

"Both."

"68. But physically 23, just like I was when I went in."

"Wow." she said. "That's amazing."

"It certainly is something." he said. "What about you?"

"How old I am?" she said.

"Everything."

"Let's see. I was raised in Albany, moved down here for college at NYU. Mom's a nurse, dad's in local government upstate. I started working for the Newsday daily blog two years ago. Mostly business stuff, actually, so I find myself on Wall Street way more often than I want to be, but that's why it's a job. I'm trying to get a big enough portfolio to move over to HuffPo, or maybe a DC paper. For now it's alright though."

He waited.

"Oh, and I'm 25." she said with a laugh. "My mother is Catholic and devastated I haven't married yet."

He smiled to himself, listening as she went on.

They found themselves walking around the park for hours, talking about the most trivial things. They ended up on the block near Stark Tower, and headed up that way.

"You'll come with me, to SHIELD, right?" she asked, suddenly hesitant.

"Of course. It's my fault you ended up like this, I can at least keep you company while you go through this whole ordeal."

She shook her head. "No. It's your fault I'm alive. For which I am eternally grateful."


	4. Chapter 4

The SHIELD offices in New York were not as big and impressive as the ones in DC. Just a good dozen floors that took up the main Government Building downtown. They shared the immense skyscraper with offices for the FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, Armed Forces, and various other government organizations.

A towncar met Steve, Danielle, and Bruce at Stark Tower. Danielle got increasingly more nervous as they made their way towards the building. She rubbed her knees, looking out the car window, her mind flooded with repetitive worrisome thoughts. She began trying to find some source information for her next article, but her phone screen made her oddly dizzy.

Bruce was fiddling with someone on his iPad, and Steve glanced over.

"Theorizing what the chemical compound side effects might cause." Bruce said. "Been bouncing some ideas off these guys in Spain. The mixture I used on her was a dulled down serum similar to yours, only with some nano-technology. They've used a similar one on mice, with good looking results, only mice don't have the same will humans do."

"What do you mean?" Danielle asked.

"Look at the few cases of superhumans we've seen. Their powers are effective, yes, but when other people are involved, they change. Look at Karla Sofen, who SHIELD had to deal with a few years back. She can control others with her mind. She can displace her powers to effect others."

"So you're suggesting...I can heal other people?" she whispered.

"If the serum was potent enough, I think so. But we'll test the theory in the lab. We're here." he nodded out the window, and Danielle looked up at the glimmering building.

The first floor of SHIELD looked unlike any other government building she'd seen. Instead of the usual dingy work spaces, everything looked brand new, the highest technology available, most of which had shining Stark Logos on them. She followed Bruce and Steve to the second floor, and recognized the same stark white lab that Bruce had. A pretty young girl with dreadlocks caught sight of them, and looked so thrilled that they'd arrived.

"Dr. Banner! It's so nice to see you again!" she gushed, shaking his hand eagerly, and moving on to Danielle's and then Steve's. "I'm Kiara Taylor, I couldn't contain myself when I got your email last night, are you ready to get this show on the road?"

With a graceful sweep of his fingers, Banner pushed all the data from his iPad onto the screens in the room, and flicked through it as he began talking.

"Her blood shows an unusual high amount of nuetrophils, which, as you know, is common for patients with luekemia. However, these are regenerating at twice the normal rate. And they're also not Lymphocytes. Every normal fluctuating level in the body, blood pressure, gluclose, adrenaline, et cetera, is completely level."

"What is he talking about?" she whispered to Steve.

"No idea." he replied.

"Her body heals instinctual, not as a willfull act." he said.

"Could it be possible she could trigger or manipulate normal body processes? Like her metabolism, heart rate?" Kiara asked.

"I'm not sure. There's also a theory, which my associates working in Spain, think she might be able to heal other people."

"Her body healed under extreme distress though, correct?" she asked, pulling out something from a drawer. It was a small white box with lots of wires sticking out of it. She began to circle Danielle, placing small sticky ends on her skin, connecting back to the white box.

"Radiation levels?" he asked.

"Totally normal." she said, looking at the readout.

"That's good. That means she probably can't be triggered like me." Bruce said.

"Maybe she can, though. Just like normal humans can show examples of superhuman strength when under extreme circumstances. Maybe subnormal humans can trigger their own powers."

"Like in battle." Steve said, and she looked at him with wide eyes.

"Exactly!" she said. "He gets it!"

"Subnormal?" I asked, feeling slightly embarrassed. "Is that what I am now?"

She didn't seem to hear me. She'd picked up a clipboard and was scribbling something on it.

"We'll just need to evoke an emotional response." Kiara said.

"Steve, come here." Bruce said. Bruce lifted up the sleeve on Steve's shirt, and sliced him across the bicep with a scalpel. Blood began seeping out of the wound. Steve hissed, grabbing his arm, and looking at the blood on his hands.

"What the hell?" Danielle said, looking in horror at Bruce. She crossed the room quickly, looking at the cut. It definitely needs stitches.

"Try." Steve said. "It's okay."

She looked up at him with wide eyes, shaking her head.

"I can't, it's impossible."

"So am I, remember?" he said. "Be impossible."

She touched his arm gently. She tried to remember what it felt like when her own sliced wrist reformed. She shut her eyes, concentrating. She opened them a moment later.

Blood still dripped from his arm.

"Heal me!" he said, his voice suddenly authoritative. Panic seeped into her stomach, and she shut her eyes, focusing more.

_How did his arm look before? Gorgeous, sculpted, hard as rock-_

She heard Kiara gasp. She opened her eyes.

His arm looked like it should, only marked with quickly drying blood. She stepped back, looking up at him in astonishment.

"You did that." she said.

"No, you did, Danielle." he said, smiling.

"Incredible." Banner said. "We need to check her DNA. I think it's just mutated enough to work like this. How do you feel, tired?"

She shook her head.

"I feel fine. Same." she said quietly. "Don't cut him again. You scared me." she said to Bruce.

"That was the point." he said. "With practice, you won't need to be scared."

"What else can she do?" Kiara said eagerly, and for the first time since this had happened, Danielle felt irritated. In fact, she felt a little angry.

"I'm not a circus trick." Danielle snapped. "I'm not-"

"Stay calm." Steve said, backing away slightly. He was looking at her funny. She looked at herself in the reflective surface of a chrome machine, and saw her eyes glowing. The liquid sunshine they'd put in her veins was seeping out, she could feel the heat behind them.

She took a breath, and her eyes dimmed to their usual deep brown.

"What's happening to me?" she whispered at them.

 


	5. Chapter 5

"Reflexes first." Bruce said, guiding her over to an examination table. "Should be heightened."

As she settled, she saw a red headed woman in all black sneak into the room quietly, watching her with curious eyes.

Bruce took the small reflex hammer and aimed it for her knee. Half an inch before it hit the skin, her leg kicked.

"Funny." he said. "Just relax."

"I didn't do anything." she said. "Honest. Try again."

He went to hit the knee, with the same result as before.

Suddenly, Natasha crossed the room. Her arm went back, moving to strike Danielle. Without turning her head, Danielle felt her hand move quickly to block the blow and catch Natasha's wrist. Danielle looked at the woman who's arm she held.

"Were you going to hit me?" she asked.

"I guess not." Natasha smiled. "Fury will be pleased."

"We need to do a CAT scan, I want to see her brain processes and nervous system at work." Dr. Banner said. "And we'll need to find out her reaction to outside elements, extreme heat or cold."

Danielle exhaled, running her hands through her hair.

"Let's get this over with." she said.

"Call me when the tests are through." Natasha said before slinking away again.

* * *

After a good 4 hours of rigorous tests being run, three men, Natasha, and a slender brunette woman walked into the room.

"Banner," a huge man with an eyepatch addressed the scientist. "Someone raided your office and lab."

"What?" Banner said, nearly shouting. The clipboard in his hand snapped. Steve grabbed Danielle, pulling her behind him.

"There's never been a successful break in. As you might expect, Stark is in pursuit." Natasha said. She gave both Steve and Danielle a look, glancing Danielle up and down and then grinning.

"Who?" Banner said, taking his glasses off and rubbing his forehead.

"That's the problem, we don't know." Nick sighed. "Not Hydra, not any American-based terror threats. But they took the serum."

"Someone must have gotten into the emails, or leaked some information without knowing it. Nobody, until yesterday, knew I was working on those Serums, except for the people in this room."

"They took all of them."

"That's a problem." Bruce said. "The serums are composed differently, all slightly changed in one way or another. The one I chose for Danielle was the weakest one. I didn't want to kill her, nor turn her into a monster. Clearly, she still is exhibiting some sort of...supernatural effects. The others, specifically those in high potency, could kill whoever they distribute them to. But, the ones somewhere in the middle..."

"We're going to have a whole gang of super-powered super-people to deal with." A shorter man with a bow and arrow on his back said.

"It's not like we don't have some super-powered people to fight back with." Natasha said, motioning towards Steve.

"I can help." Danielle said quietly, and everyone stopped to turn and look at her.

"Impossible. You don't even know the full extent of your powers." Nick said.

"Bruce, if one thing in this whole world would be able to stop the Hulk, what would it be?" Danielle asked, her eyes still on Fury.

"Another Hulk." he admitted.

"I may have received the weakest serum, but I can help. I have what they have inside me. And, I can heal you guys if you get injured."

"She's right." Steve said. "She'd be an asset, that's for sure. Like a medic, in battle, only able to return soldiers to the field instantly."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah. Yeah, it'll be fun." Danielle replied, nodding. "I know I can. I want to help."

"Find her something to wear that isn't jeans and a sweatshirt." Fury said to Natasha. "Wheels up ASAP."

* * *

In 15 minutes, the team regrouped in the underground SHIELD bunker, where they kept their small collection of aircraft. Danielle wore slim fitting tactical pants and a black tank top with a green military jacket over it. Her hair was pulled back, and she had a heavy bag of medical supplies on her arm. She climbed into the plane, which looked like no other plane she'd been in. She looked around for a moment, taking in the huge windows, the jets on the back that looked like they rotated.

"You'll need these?" Steve asked, appearing behind her and looking inside the bag. She shook her head.

"I think Fury just wanted me to prepared." she said, smiling slightly.

"Can't believe only 16 hours ago you were bleeding out on Bruce's table." Steve said.

"You're telling me." she sighed. "But, I owe you guys-"

"Is that why you're doing all this?" he said, interrupting her. "Because you feel you owe us? You don't. We saved your life, but that's our job."

She paused, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"No...I  _want_  to help. Like you helped me." she said, before smiling. "And you look good in blue. Makes your eyes pop."

"Where's Stark's location?" Natasha asked as she walked inside, the man with the bow and arrow beside her. They both sat in the pilot seats, and she tapped something into one of the keyboards.

"Just flew over Vermont." the man said, pulling up the coordinates.

"Vermont?" Steve said, confused.

"They're putting up a chase. We think they're heading towards Canada."

"They don't know SHIELD has international diplomacy?" Steve asked.

"Apparently not." Natasha said. "We're going up in 5. We've got two more crafts behind us. They're flying in single man aircraft, so they'll be easy to take down."

"Not if Tony hasn't already, don't you think?" Steve suggested.

"Good point." she sighed. "We'll try to get them on the ground. We might overpower them easier that way."

"And we obviously need one of them alive, for information." the man said. He turned to look at Danielle. "Clint Barton. Hope you don't get airsick."

"Nice to meet you too." She replied, and he sniggered.

The engines roared to life, and they began to rise. Garage doors in the distance opened onto the street, and Natasha guided the plane out and into the skies of Manhattan.


	6. Chapter 6

Danielle couldn't remember the last time she'd been moving this fast - if ever. Out the window, it seemed clouds weren't even in focus. Birds were blurs. It wasn't like a passenger 747, this thing could haul.

It took them just half an hour to gain on Tony and the small silver aircraft Danielle could just catch glimpses of darting in and out of the clouds. She saw Iron Man, a streak of red, below them slightly, firing repeatedly, but the silver bullets dodged them easily.

"We need to ground them." Clint sighed.

"Is it civilian population below?" Steve asked.

"There's an upcoming field in about 10 klicks." Natasha said. "We'll drop them over that, alright Tony?"

"Yeah, fine. Copy." a voice said over the intercom.

Natasha pushed the aircraft further, bypassing the silvers below. They dropped, turning the opposite direction. In about ten seconds, the four aircraft shot towards them. With a few gracefully timed shots, the aircraft fell from the air and into the field. Three of the four pilots deployed their parachutes. They wore all black, and had heavy looking helmets and glasses on.

"Your time to shine, Cap." Natasha said, opening the back of the plane. Attaching his shield to his back, he dove out.

"Hey, Tasha..." Clint began, looking out of the windshield. "That's Canada, right?"

"Yeah, we're right on the border."

"Somethings coming." he said. "Put us down."

As he said this, the other two SHIELD aircraft went ballistic, their motors exploding. They spun to the ground, and Danielle heard explosions.

"Roger that." Natasha said, lowering the plane quickly towards the ground.

Danielle sunk into one of the seats, watching them with wide eyes. Why the  _hell_ had she agreed to come? She was way out of her league.

"Hang tight, Danielle." Natasha said.

From the treeline, four immense mutated creatures emerged. Danielle blinked stupidly at them, trying to figure out what they were. They looked like enormous skinless dogs, with an iridescent blue skin. Behind them were a pair of larger ships, the same silver color as the smaller ones.

"Who let the dogs out?" she heard Tony say over the intercom.

"Shit." Clint said. Danielle creeped to the exit, watching the action unfold before her. She felt useless, but was blown away at the fluidity of everyone. It was like an intricately performed dance. The pilots of the ships seemed to be highly skilled in hand to hand combat, and Steve was doing everything he could to shield any of the bullets spraying from the two new ships. Tony, it seemed, was trying to distract the dogs, but one was rounding on Natasha.

"These things won't die!" she shouted in frustration, as she emptied another magazine into the flesh of the mutated beast.

Danielle watched in distress as a bullet went through Clint's shoulder.

"I'm down." she heard him groan a moment later. Without second thought, she ran towards him, dodging the onslaught of bullets as she went. She fell beside him in the grass, placing her palm on his chest. She shut her eyes, trying to recall the sensation when she healed Steve's cut. She heard Clint cry out, and then gasp for breath. She looked down, seeing the bullet resting in the grass, and his shoulder as good as new.

"That fuckin' hurt." he said, sitting up, wincing. "Thanks."

"Feel alright?" she asked, and he nodded, standing, and pulling her up behind him.

With a movement so fast she could have sworn it didn't happen, he'd rearmed his bow and was pointing it straight at her.

"Duck." he said, and she crouched as he sent an arrow through one of the dogs eyes.

Someone dropped from the sky, out of one of the ships, and landed beside her. They pulled her up to their chest, effectively using her as a human shield, holding the gun to her neck.

Without delay, Natasha pointed the gun directly at them both.

"Don't!" Danielle heard Steve shout, but it was too late. The bullet ripped through her chest and then the man's behind her. She felt the man drop away, but she stayed standing, in shock. She looked down at her shirt as the sticky blood seeped from her heart. She gasped for air as the unusual pain from her tendons, skin and bone reforming ripped across her entire chest.

Steve was there, pulling her towards him and putting his shield up against the high powered ammunition ricocheted off it, protecting them both.

"I'm okay!" she said into his chest as the healing finished. She pushed away from him slightly, and felt blood on her hand as she did. She carefully brushed her fingers over the graze in his uniform, and felt the warm skin reappear, unharmed. He sighed slightly.

"Get to cover, there's more SHIELD ships on their way. This shouldn't take long." he said. "Run, I'll cover you."

She darted away from him and back into the ship. In no time at all, three more SHIELD craft had overpowered the smaller, enemy ships. She thought it was over, until she heard Tony's voice over the intercom.

"One got away. There was one more that left New York. I must have lost-" she heard him pause, and then launch into a torrent of swear words. Four of the six pilots were dead, but two remained, cuffed now by SHIELD agents.

"Who's hurt?" she asked, looking at the small team. Natasha stepped forward, wincing as she stepped.

"Ribs feels broken, one of those dogs got a bite at me."

She gently touched the woman's side, sensing the injuries. Natasha shut her eyes, trying to mask her pain as Danielle reset the bones.

"The vials are gone." a SHIELD agent said, running up to Steve. He nodded.

"Time to regroup." Clint sighed. "These two should help with getting some information." he nodded towards the two pilots. "We'll need to get one of those dogs too, Bruce will want to run all sorts of tests on them."

Tony walked up to them, his helmet open, his suit making hydroponic whirring and clicking noises everytime he moved.

"That went poorly." he said. "Care to patch me up, sweetheart? It appears something got through."

The metal on his leg folded in on itself, and a nasty gash ran up his calf. She ran her finger along the edge of it, zipping up the wound like a jacket.

"That's cool stuff." he said. "And I think have an idea about how you can help with these two."


	7. Chapter 7

The interrogation room was quiet. Natasha sat across the table from one Alexandei Vertain. Danielle stood in the corner, leaning into the wall. Tony's theory had work. She could effectively not only heal, but unheal. Alexandei's face rested against the table, and he groaned. A bucket sat on the table.

"Who do you work for?" Natasha asked for the 16th time.

"I can't-" he said, and heaved into the bucket. It was mostly dry now, he was dehydrated.

"We can keep going for a long time. Give me a name, Alexandei. You're sick right now, but it can all be over in half a second if you tell me a name."

He gasped for air, rubbing his face. Danielle felt sick herself.

"Richardo Emesil." he said. "The business name is Precision Horizons Industries."

She nodded, standing. Danielle stopped the onslaught of illness, and the man's face lit up.

"Bring the man something to drink." Natasha said coolly to one of the guards as she walked past. Danielle followed her out. "You did well." Natasha commented as they walked down the hallway together. "It didn't take long."

Danielle shook her head without a word. She couldn't believe she'd just done that. Tortured another person. She saw Steve in one of the work rooms and took a detour, leaving Natasha to walk to Fury's office alone.

She opened the door quietly, listening to The Captain give a tactical procedure speech to the men in the room. She leaned against the door, chewing on her lip, her mind somewhere else. Steve had yet to notice her, and the calm and modulated yet serious tone of voice he spoke with soothed her slightly.

He finished his presentation, and finally looked up.

"How did it go?" he asked, approaching her and speaking quietly. She shrugged.

"They got what they wanted." she said. "Look, I think I'm going to head home. I'm exhausted."

"What happened, Danielle?" he asked carefully.

"I didn't want to do it." she said. "Any of that. Making that man sick so he would talk. I tortured him for an hour unti-" she stopped. "Why would anyone want to do that? I understand there's other parts. Lives at stake. But I was almost killed a day and a half ago. I didn't want to hurt anyone! I just wanted to help. Not like that, though. Help you. Not them. I don't even  _know_ them." she motioned wildly around her.

He touched her forehead. "You're burning up." he said.

"I'm mad." she sighed.

"No, come here." he took her hand, pulling her out of the room and down the hall. "Kiara! She's running a high temp." he said as he burst through the lab door. She jumped, and scurried towards the pair of them. She placed her hand on Danielle's cheek.

"Jesus." she whispered. She found a thermometer, scanning it over her head. "120. Sit down. Get her some water, Cap." she said. She pulled Bruce up on a video feed with a tap on a laptop.

"Danielle is running 120 degrees." she said. Bruce didn't look up, only sighed. He looked exhausted.

"Check and see her cell regeneration rate."

"I need a blood sample." Kiara said timidly.

"Oh for  _fucks sake_." Danielle exclaimed grumpily, her eyes flashing like they had done earlier that day. She reached for a scalpel and waited as Kiara gathered a container. She sliced her arm wide open, letting her blood poor out.

"You're bright red." Steve said as he handed her a water bottle. "Is she okay?"

"Her cells are reproducing at three times their already above average speed, Dr Banner." Kiara said from the microscope.

"She's upset." Banner said. "Something triggered a chemical reaction. Give her a few minutes, calm her down. It's her electrical processing. That's why her eyes keep flashing. It's highly stimulated neural connections, I'd guess. Just like when...normal people get angry, they get red in the face. Only multiplied."

"So she's fine?" Steve asked, and Banner sighed loudly.

"She's fine." he said before shutting down the video feed.

"Remind me not to ever steal from that man's lab." Kiara said. "I'll go grab some fever reducer."

Danielle chugged the whole water bottle, and crushed it in her hand.

"My hearts racing." she commented, and swallowed. Her hands shook. Steve moved his fingers to her neck to take her pulse, and she sighed. "You're so cold." she said, pushing his whole palm against her neck and shutting her eyes. He moved his other hand to her cheek, and gradually her pulse slowed.

Kiara returned to the room, and paused, looking at the pair of them.

"So...no fever reducer?" she asked, shaking the bottle slightly.

"That's a negative." Steve said.

* * *

"The girl needs to stay under our protection for now. She's our...control sample for the serum's effects." Fury said to Natasha.

"She didn't seem too happy about helping with the interrogation before." she replied. "But she likes Steve." she flipped open a file on her tablet. "I'll put him on guard duty."

"That's fine. Keep tabs on any friends and family she has. Get a doctor's note to her employer."

She nodded, tapping this into the computer.

"How's Banner?" he asked.

"Didn't ask. Probably unhappy."

"Keep eyes on him too. I don't want him tearing anything up."

"Tony's already on that, sir."

Fury sighed, turning around in his chair. "Of course he is."

* * *

"You're on guard duty, Cap." Natasha announced as she walked into the lab.

"Am I a prisoner now?" Danielle said.

"No, under temporary protection until we get these serums sorted. You're the only tie we have to what the serum can do. We'll need you."

"No more interrogations, Natasha." Steve said. "And if you  _ever_  shoot her again-"

"I get it, Cap. Big star-spangled bruise on my ass." she said. "Sorry. About shooting you." she said to Danielle, who nodded. Natasha turned back to Steve. "You can take her to your place, or any of the other SHIELD safe houses."

"And what about my stuff?" Danielle asked.

"We sent someone to gather some of your belongings."

"Great. Cassidy's going to kill me." Danielle sighed, but then smiled up at Steve. "Glad it's you."

"Me too."

 


	8. Chapter 8

Danielle woke up curled in a comforter she did not recognize. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, remembering falling asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Steve had insisted repeatedly and determinedly that she would take his room, and not the couch.

She crawled towards her duffel, which sat at the end of the bed, and pulled out her laptop. She skimmed her emails. One was from her boss, telling her they were so sorry to hear she was ill and couldn't wait for her to return to work. She sighed, deleting a few spam messages.

She peeked out the slightly ajar bedroom door, leaning from her seated position on the bed. Steve was still asleep. She typed his name into the search engine, and began reading up. She chewed on a thumbnail as she read his wikipedia page. He'd done so much...good. Surely, he was just a man, he had to have some sort of flaw. She silently pulled herself out of bed and over to his dresser, where there was a shadowbox of military medals.

The room seemed empty. Despite the furniture, there was nothing else on display. He had a laptop on a desk in the corner, but when she slid her finger over the top of it, a fine layer of dust gathered on her fingertips. There was a small bookshelf, but with only a few things on it. An odd assortment; the first Harry Potter, a book by Bill Clinton, a military manual from the early 70's, the bible. She found a pen on the desk, and clicked it absentmindedly as she looked around the room. There was a TV on the wall in the corner, but the remote, which sat on a small table, was also covered in dust. It appeared all he did in the room was sleep.

She rounded the corner to the bathroom. Everything was so immaculate. There wasn't a comb or bottle of cologne not at a perfect right angle. She picked up one of the bottles of shampoo sitting on the corner of the tub, reading it. It looked like high priced stuff, which surprised her. She heard Steve say her name, walking into the room. She startled, and dropped the bottle onto the floor. It burst open, the soap going everywhere.

She sighed, and appeared in the door, smiling up at him.

"I was snooping and I dropped a bottle of soap." she said, grinning. He gave her a bemused look. "Sorry. I'll clean it up really fast."

He stepped into the bathroom behind her as she grabbed a wad of tissues and wiped it off the wall where it had exploded. She laughed again.

"Probably cost you 3 dollars when I did that."

Again, he gave her a confused look.

"Natasha bought it for me." he said. "Said she hated the smell of 99 cent shampoo, so brought me a bunch of stuff. Is it expensive?"

"Yeah, it's designer brand stuff. Not much of a shopper?"

He shook his head as she tossed the tissues into the trash.

"Seemed like an Old Spice kinda guy to me."

His eyes brightened, and he scooped up a bottle of the cologne, showing it to her.

"No, I saw that. I meant...shampoo."

"They make shampoo now?" he asked.

She leaned against the counter, nodding. "How often do you get out?"

"Err," he fidgeted. "I don't even like going to the grocery store."

"There's a grocery store around here?"

"Yeah, the one on the corner. They don't really carry what they used to, though."

"That's a convenience store!" she said as she remembered passing it on their way in. "Cigarettes, soda, magazines." she laughed. "I'd be amazed if they had frozen dinners."

He shrugged. "I mostly order in or eat at the diner down the block, anyways."

"Come on." she said, breezing past him. "I'll make you breakfast."

"Really?"

"I suspect, though, I'll have to get to a real store to do so. If your house is as empty as it looks, I'm sure the kitchen is no better."

"I think I have some milk, maybe?" he said with a smile.

* * *

After she changed into a clean set of clothes, she led Steve down the block and then up two more streets, before they arrived at a proper grocery store.

"Look, they have things to drink other than beer!" she said, pointing at the back fridges heavily stocked with milk and juices. "You need bacon and eggs immediately, Captain. What else? What sort of things did you even eat in the 30's?"

"The Great Depression? Not much, I can tell you that."

"Okay." she thought. "Cream of wheat?" she wagered a guess.

He made a face. "Awful stuff."

"How about potatoes?" she grabbed one, tossing it lightly. He shrugged.

"You're going to have to make the call. I'm pretty terrible at cooking."

"You've got a mean right hook though, so we've got that going for us." she said as she opened a fridge and pulled out a dozen eggs. "OJ, butter..." she traced the aisles quietly as Steve followed her, watching her so he could remember exactly what she did.

She paid quickly before he had a chance to insist. Back at his apartment, she commandeered the kitchen and spent a good half hour making everything. Steve sat at the counter, watching her cook, trying to memorize everything she did.

"What?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Trying to learn from observation." he said.

"You're welcome to scramble my eggs for me." she said with a smile. "Don't touch the bacon, though, too advanced."

He stood, and she handed him a spatula.

"Having fun yet?" she asked after a minute, moving to the other side of the kitchen.

"Loads." he said, moving around the mostly raw egg whites and yolks around. He frowned, lifting up the pan and looking down at the electric stovestop. "Is this thing working?" he said, poking the red surface and then pulling his hand back quickly, hissing.

"Steve, oh my god." she said, turning back around from the fridge and taking his hand. "I look away one second." She ran her fingers carefully over his singed hand.

"Sorry, thanks." he sputtered, and looked back at the stove. "It's electric." he said.

"Have you really not used it?" she asked, and he shook his head.

"Well, if you'd put the pan back on the burner, we'll eat in a minute or two." she bumped him with her hip. "I'll handle it. Sit."

"Yes ma'am."

The next moment, she slid him a plate heaping with food. He grinned.

"Looks better than the diner." he said.

"That was the point."


	9. Chapter 9

"Do you have Tony's number?" she asked as soon as they finished eating. He looked at her funny.

"If you can figure out how to use that cell phone, probably."

"Where is it? Also how do you keep in contact with SHIELD if you can't use a phone?"

"They call me. Or I yell at it. Stark was tired of me breaking all my phones, so he made one that does what I says." he said, looking smug. "In the living room, probably."

She stood, picking it up and looking for Tony's contact. There weren't many numbers in the phone.

She started calling, and the camera opened up on her face. Irritated, she made an attempt to shut it off, but there didn't seem to be an option. She sighed loudly, waiting for him to answer.

"See? Told you it's not easy." she heard Steve say in the kitchen.

"Ah, the mysterious new nurse woman. I figured Miss USA hadn't figured out how to do it on his own." Tony said as he picked up.

"I was wondering if you can accsess city records. Arrests, coroners office."

His eyebrows raised, and he turned to tap something into his computer.

"Yeah, already done. Their firewall is laughable, very late 2007." he said. "Anything in particular?"

She ducked into the other room. "Looking for a found body two nights ago. A male. Central park."

He typed something else, and she saw a face appear on his monitor. "Got it. 30 year old male, broken neck. Anything else?"

"Just everything on the victim. Can you email it to me?" she recited her address, and he nodded. "Thanks, Mr. Stark."

"Tony's fine, kid. Hope you find what you're looking for."

She heard her laptop beep in the other room. Steve appeared.

" _He_ wasn't the victim." he said slowly.

"I know." she said. "I'm just curious. It's because of him I'm here."

She walked into his bedroom, looking at the email from a one  _iamironman ._ He wasn't what she was expecting. He was short, with prominent balding. He had a heavy cross necklace on his chest, and wore a greasy looking black tank top. He was thin too. He had a long list of arrests, and had only recently gotten out of Rikers.

"Well. I don't know what I was expecting to get out of this." she said to Steve. He looked at the picture without a glimmer of emotion.

"Now you know, I guess."

She sighed, shutting the laptop and then falling back into his pillows.

"Can we go to the hospital?" she asked quietly. "I want to get some practice in on people that aren't you."

"Danielle." he sighed, sitting down on the edge of the bed. "If you do that, every person in America will be knocking at your door. You can't save everyone."

"You saved me."

"Luck. Coincidence. Fate. What have you. People die everyday, and I'm not there to carry them to safety."

"Doesn't that suck, though?" she asked.

"Suck?"

"Like...that..." she sighed. "It doesn't feel nice."

He nodded.

"I wish half the world had powers like us. But at the same time, power in the wrong hands leads to typically...destruction and chaos."

He looked terribly sad as he spoke, and she felt a surge of compassion towards him.

* * *

That afternoon, the pair returned to SHIELD. Since he was on guard duty, she had to accompany him. There was to be a threat-level briefing in one of the communication bases. She followed him to the room, and one of the SHIELD agents standing outside the door, cleared his throat as she tried to go in.

"I don't think you have clearance, miss." he said. Steve stepped back outside, looking down at the agent.

"You want to try that again?" he said, leveling him with his gaze.

The agent stepped back, and waved Danielle inside. She mouthed the word 'sorry' with a shrug as she passed the agent.

Fury stood at the front of the room, looking menacing. Danielle, as usual, tried to stay unnoticeable, and found herself hiding behind Steve.

"Alright. Here's the issue. We're in the dark. Intelligence satellites find no activity where the ships went. It's probably an underground institution. This name we received, the company, it all leads to dead ends. Our pilots are for-hire criminals, they supposedly have no idea who was in the chain of command. There's no corporation on our radar with this sort of man power, technology, or funding. It's a new threat."

"We don't know if anyone has administered a serum?" Bruce asked. Fury shook his head. "I guess we'll find out eventually." he sighed.

"We could have another hulk to deal with." Natasha said. Bruce gave her a look. She held up her hands in defense. "One that isn't on our side, sorry."

"Not to mention having one could trigger the other." Steve said.

"I'm right here, guys." he said. "But you're right. Triggering isn't the response we want. If threatened, we'll need a controlled phase. Or else...I won't be able to determine who is who."

"Our options boil down to this - do we keep you here incase we get some sort of warning, or do we move you to a secure location?" Natasha said.

"None of the serums are strong enough to produce something with the physical power of The Other Guy. Theoretically, that's how I designed them. However, with the unexpected results of her dose, you still might be out of your league. I don't know what abilities it could produce."

"Could we factor you out, regarding safety?" Nick said.

"If you guys think you could handle it, I'd prefer to not be involved." Bruce said. "It's up to you. I don't want to endanger anyone unintentionally."

"That's fair." Natasha said. "I think we can manage."

"We'll send you to the island." Nick said. "I'll have a plane ready in less than an hour."

"Call me if you have  _science_  questions. Have Kiara-" Bruce said, pointing at Steve. "Send me updates on her status."

* * *

That evening, after hours of listening to processing theories and tactical movements, finally Danielle got away to the lab.

"Okay. Prick me with needles. Run tests. Do something. I can't take the meetings anymore." she said to Kiara as she walked in.

"Excellent!" Kiara chirped, pushing her into a chair and attaching some probes to her neck instantly. "How are you feeling today?" she asked as she scribbled down some numbers from the readout.

"Good."

"Are you eating normally? Sleeping? Are you experiencing normal bodily functions?"

"Yes, yes - although less than I used to, and yes, I guess so." she said. "I pee."

Kiara nodded.

"No red flags?" she asked, shining a light into her eyes. Danielle shook her head. "And you still find yourself with a libido? I'm curious if it effected your reproductive organs."

"A libido?" Danielle laughed. "That's..."

"Well, nobody can deny how handsome he is, and you  _did_ spend the night at his apartment." Kiara said. "Just want to make sure everything is working properly." _  
_

Danielle sighed, and then shrugged. "I don't know. Haven't attempted to have sex yet, I guess. I will let you know."

"Make sure no details are left out." Kiara said with a wink.

And then, all at once, every window in the lab shattered.


	10. Chapter 10

Danielle moved quickly, pulling Kiara underneath a desk.

"Stay here." Danielle said, pulling the probes from her neck. Something shook the building, and she heard shouting.

She ran to the hallway, looking desperately for the source of the noise.

Something burst through a door at the end of the hall. It stood nearly 8 feet tall, and had a slightly curved back. It was vaguely person shaped, but it's face was so mutated there was not a trace of humanness left in it. It's mouth was wide, and it had rows of long, thin, pointy teeth. It's eyes were deep red, and oval shaped, sunk back into the bald skull. On it's hands were impressive claws, and it's arms and legs were the size of tree trunks. It looked directly at Danielle, and let out a hideous reptilian scream.

She turned, running down the hall in the opposite direction. She nearly slammed right into Steve, who came rushing out of one of the doors with his shield at the ready.

"What are you doing?" he asked, not stopping. "Get somewhere safe!" he ordered as he ran towards the creature. Natasha followed him, her guns at the ready.

Danielle pushed through the door he'd just come out of, and just glimpsed a streak of red and gold as Tony flew past her.

"We need to get them to the Atrium." Nick said into his headset, pushing past her.  _Them?_ she thought.

She stopped a moment, considering hiding like Steve asked her to. And then she headed straight for the fight.

Stark had pushed the first creature back out into the atrium, the huge open air center of the sky scraper. Various SHIELD employees ran in every direction. There were three different things, looking vaguely similar to one another, but the other two were flying.

They let out hideous screeching noises as they dove and dodged the bullets flying towards them. They were strong, repeated laser blasts from the Iron Man suit seemed not to even phase them.

 _Great. So these assholes are breeding not only dogs, but human mutants as well_ she thought as she looked at them.

She saw Steve on the floor of the atrium; he was trying to both evacuate any employees, and fight the unwinged beast. He seemed to be handling himself well.

Natasha had somehow climbed up to the rafters, and Clint had appeared from somewhere to shoot repeated arrows at the monsters. With each arrow that sunk into their muscle, an explosive went off.

Tony had cornered one, and was using some sort of heat beam to carve into the thing's skin. It screamed so shrilly, Danielle covered her ears. Tony's targeted beast's wings stopped beating, and it dropped to the floor below with a thud.

"I need bigger guns!" Natasha shouted down to Clint, and he laughed. Danielle watched in stupor as the two were able to joke so easily while so much was happening.

Suddenly, a loud crack echoed through the atrium. She looked down to watch the beast drop Steve's limp body to the floor, and begin scaling the sides of the balcony to get to Clint.

"No-" Danielle whispered. She pulled herself over the balcony edge and let herself drop 4 stories. She felt her ankle bones shatter, and she screamed, falling, waiting for them to reset. When they did, she pulled herself up, running across the room to Steve. His arm sat at a perverted angle, and every vertebrae in his spine was pulverized. 6 of his ribs were crushed. She pressed one hand against his chest, and the other on his arm, shutting her eyes. He cried out as she heard his arm bones snapping back together.

"I know, I'm sorry." she said, holding back tears. "Hang tight, the spine's going to be worse."

He groaned, clenching his teeth as she gently pressed into his side, sensing each individual bone running up his spine. There were a lot. "I'm so sorry." she repeated as she felt herself piecing together the broken bones. They were taking longer than she was expecting.  _Supersoldier bone_ she thought.

She finally finished the spine, and he went to take a breath, and groaned again. She took his hand, squeezing it tightly, hovering her other hand over his broken ribs. "Almost there." she assured him, and the next moment he was all back together again.

He gasped for air, laying flat on his back, his eyes closed. She glanced over her shoulder, glad to see Tony had taken down the unwinged one. She hoped it had suffered. The last was cornered by Natasha and Clint, on the balcony.

"You alright?" she asked, and he nodded, still breathing heavily.

"Never better." he managed, and smiled slightly. She pushed his hair back gently, wiping off the sweat with the sleeve of her shirt.

Suddenly, his eyes widened. With one fluid movement, he picked Danielle up and slid her across the floor. She slammed into a wall. He rolled out of the way just as the third creature came tumbling down.

"Really?" he shouted up at Tony, who she could hear laughing.

"Glad you're not dead!" Tony shouted. Steve threw his shield towards Stark as hard as he could, and Tony laughed again, dodging it easily.

He turned to help Danielle up, but she was already on her feet.

"You're okay? I got everything?" she asked, scanning him up and down. He looked down, so overwhelmed with gratefulness it was everything he could do to not kiss her.

"You jumped from up there?" he asked, looking at the balcony above them. She nodded. He took another deep breath, trying to remain composed. They walked up the stairs together.

Natasha swung down from the rafters, tumbling as she landed so she wouldn't hurt herself. She stood gracefully. Tony landed beside them.

"Well." Natasha said. "Either that's the best they've got, or we have a hell of a storm coming."

* * *

**A/N: That's all I have so far! I posted the original on FF.net and a friend suggested I also publish here, I hope you guys like what I have so far. There's more to come soon, very soon! Thanks for reading, feel free to leave a comment if you're enjoying it!**

 


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